Automatic fire-extinguisher



(K0 Modei.) I

- W. NERAOHER.

AUTOMATIC FIRE EXTINGUISHER.

No. 361,179. Patented Apr. 12, 1887'.

N. Pains mmmm mr. Wishinglon. n a" UNITED STATEs PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM NERAGHER, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

AUTOMATIC FIRE-EXTINGUISHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 361,179, dated April12, 1887.

I Application filed March 3, 1886. Serial No. 193,851. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

- Be it known that 1, WILLIAM N ERAOHER, of Cleveland, in the county ofGuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Automatic Fire-Extinguishers; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to automatic firesprinkling apparatus; and itconsists of improvements in the distributing-valve and of improvementsin the mechanism for holding and releasing the distributervalve, all ashereinafter particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows the mechanism partly inside elevation and partly in section. Fig. 2 shows a face view of thedistributer-valve. Fig. 3 shows a vertical transverse section of thevalve on line a; a: of Fig. 2, the section of said valve shown in Fig. 1being upon line y y of Fig. 2. Figs. 5 and 4 are vertical transversesections of the link, formed of two parts, and connected byeasily-fusible solder. Fig. 6isa modified form of the valve-center. Fig.7 is a like view to Fig. 1, with the parts free as they appear inaction. Fig. 8'is a section on the line 2 z of Fig. 1. Fig. 9 is amodified form of link.

The frame A is substantially the same as that shown in Letters Patent ofthe United States granted to me on the 22d of April,

between which and the seat may be interposed the valve is released itcan drop upon studs 13, by which it is held directly under thedischarge-opening. The valve is formed with inwardly-turned spurs 16 and17, for .cutting up.and spraying the water rebounding from the face ofthe distributer-valve.

Instead of the central core shown in my previous patents, I provide inthe central part of the valve an annular serrated flange, 8, by whichthe central part of the stream of water is cut up and sprayed. Thiscentral part may consist of a single annular flange, or of several,

the inner being higher, forming a conical center; or the whole centralcone may be solid,

I with the serrations over its entire surface, as

of the way of the valve and distributer when the water is turned on arenew.

A bell-crank lever, 5, is pivoted at one end of one arm at 11' in theframe, a little to one side of the center, and it has a spur, 18,directly opposite to the pivoted arm of the bellcrank lever, adapted tobear in the notched lower end of the post 7. Preferably, this bearing ofthe spur in the notched end is a little out of line from the center ofthe upper bearing-point of the post, and the pivot of the bellcranklever below this notched bearing-point being on the side of the longerarm of the bellcrank lever, as hereinafter explained. This longer arm ofthe bell-crank lever is made, preferably, of elastic brass or steelwire, as at 6, bent to form two prongs, which are fixed in the end ofthe horizontal arm or arms of the bell-crank lever 5. The post 7 isinserted in place under the valve, while the arm 6 is lowered, and whenthis arm is raised the lever and the post 7 act as a toggle-joint andforce the valve to its seat and hold it securely in place. The arm isheld up byalink, D. This is composed of two parts, 0 d. These parts arejoined by slipping the legs of the upperpart over the outside of thoseof the lower part, the legs of the upper part being spread and the legsof the lower part being correspondingly contracted, so that the lowerpart wedges into the upper part. The two parts are connected byeasily-fusible solder between the lapping portions.

Fig. 4 shows the link with the parts united, and Fig. 5 with the lowerpart dropping away from the upper; and from the latter figure it will beunderstood that as soon as the solder begins to melt, the upper partbeing held and pressure put upon the lower part to draw it down, thelapping parts will not slide upon each other, but the lower will bedrawn away from the upper, and thus will be released more promptly. Thislink is supported, in the man ner shown, on the arm 4, cast with orsecured to the frame A. The lower end of the link sustains the arm 6.The link is put in place under some strain, caused by the elasticity ofthe arm 6, the parts being adjusted so that the arm 6 must be sprungslightly upward after the distributerwalve is forced to its seat andbefore the link I) can be slipped into place. On the frame I setstop-pins 12, to limit the upward movement of the arm 6. When it isreleased, its weight swings the bell-crank lever 011 its pivot 11,throws aside the post 7, and allows the distributer-valve to dropfreely. As these valves may remain in place a long time before anyaccidental fire causes their removal, and as the water-contained thereinalways contains more or less of elements of oxidation, the valves areliable to become rusted to their seats, so as not to be removable by thepressure of water, and therefore to fail in action at the proper time.In order to prevent this, and also to form a secure joint, I haveprovided a seal of some substance, such as wax, (indicated in Fig. l at15,) which may be melted and poured or otherwise forced into placebetween the distributer or sprinkler valve and its seat, in order toexclude the water from the parts in contact and to prevent anyoxidation. \Vhile I prefer wax or paraffine for this purpose, I do notconfine myself to these, as there are many equivalents well known. Thewax or paraffine may be interposed between the upper surface of thedistributer-valve and the thin copper washer b, which bears directly inthe Valve-seat; or it may be applied in any convenient way to form awater-tight joint about the distributer-valve, in order to exclude thewater from contact with the joint between the valve and its seat. Thewax or paraffine will melt by the heat, which will releasethe fusiblelink, and will thus lubricate the parts which it previously served tocover.

In Fig. 7 I have shown a modified form of the connecting-link. In thisfigure, instead of the two parts of bent metal, one part may be madesolid of approximately wedge shape,

with ledges a for the support of the arm 6. The other part of the linkmay be made V- shaped, so that it may fit the wedge part b, to which itis secured by the fusible solder, the part c of the link having an eyeadapted to fit over the arm 4.

The distributer may be used in an inverted position whenever desired,and, in order that the water may be directed to the portion of the roomdirectly above the place where the distributer is secured, I have formedopen ings in the upper rim of the valve, as shown at 19, with the sidewalls of said openings formed on an angle, so that the water will bedeflected in all directions immediately above the valve.

I am aware that prior to my invention it had been proposed to use twohollow conical sleeves, one connected to the shank of the valve and theother mounted on the frame, held together by fusible solder, thepressure upon the valve being adapted to separate the cones when thesolder is melted by heat. Further, I am aware that it is not new tosecure a disk within a pipe by fusible solder and place a core offusible material in front of the same, so as to protect the disk fromcontact with the water, and I do not broadly claim such as my invention.

I claim as my invention 1. A distributingvalve combined with the seat onthe end of the discharge-pipe and a frame attached to the end of thedischarge pipe in which the distributer-valve may fall, said valvehaving a central part provided with projections of varying heights todisperse the water, substantially as described.

2. A distributing-valve combined with the seat on the end of thedischarge-pipe and a frame attached to the end of the dischargepipe inwhich the distributer-valve may fall, said valve having a central post,14, and a serrated flange, 8, surrounding said post, but of a lessheight, substantially as described.

3. In a fire-extinguisher, the discharge-pipe and frame connectedthereto, a valve supported within said frame, a bell-crank lever havingone arm supported upon the frame and the other extending laterally atright angles thereto, in combination with a post intermediate betweenthe bell-crank lever and the valve, and an easily-fusible linkconnecting the lateral arm to the frame, substantially as described.

4.. In combination with a distributer-valve, the discharge-pipe,theframe on the dischargepipe containing the valve, the intermediate post,and the bell-crank lever having a short vertical arm, 18, and thesupporting-arm 6, extendinglaterally therefrom and at right anglesthereto, and the easily-fusible link connecting said arm with the arm4,substantially as described.

5. The combination, with a distributer-valve having suitable supportingmechanism, of independent metal link adapted to place the In testimonywhereof Ihave signed my name parts under tension and to hold them inplace, to this specification in the presence of two subsaid link beingcomposed of an upper part scribing witnesses.

having diverging legs, a lower part having WILLIAM NERACHER. 5contracted legs, the two parts being held to- Witnesses:

gether by easily-fusible solder, substantially M. ROGERS,

as described. RULNER STRAUSS.

